Cantina Ribelà Garbagorba Rosato

I'd been saving this bottle of Ribelà Garbagorba rosato since June for this exact moment, for immediately after I came home from Italy. You may be thinking, "Who needs more Italian wine after drinking only Italian wines for over a week?" and bless your naive heart. Of course you need more Italian wine when you get home from Italy, you can't just quit this shit cold turkey. Italy is the strongest drug in the world, with the hardest come down. I knew I was going to need a spectacularly dreamy wine to take the edge off returning to the states and take me back to my travels with winemaker/oenologist Danilo Marcucci and distributor/travel sage Amy Atwood, who I now never leave home without. 

But I didn't realize what this bottle was when I was saving it. I knew it was Ribelà, I knew it was Cesanese, and I thought it was the red I had in April. I loved that red, so I put a tag on the bottle reminding myself not to be an asshole and drink it while feeling mischievous (which I am liable to do), and hid it in the back of my wine fridge. I had no idea it was a rosato that there were only a handful cases produced of until I was in Italy last week. We shared glasses over a few al fresco lunches, each bottle ending with a joking "Please don't write about this."

Because wines like this are not just wines, they're trysts. They are romantic in their rarity, held intimately in their inaccessibility, and are so personal that its impossible not to feel possessive. They're Bobby Darin lyrics, Humphrey Bogart quotes, and ultimately, ships passing in the night. They are idealized and nearly impossible to have, which is why I probably shouldn't write about them.

Which is why I have to write about them.

Because while you may never drink this wine, I want you to know these wines are out there. For me, and for you. With natural wines, these precious gems are often as close as your favorite wine shop. They may not be the same wines I'm drinking, but you must know there are wines in the world that are so small in quantity yet large in love, and to not seek those big hearted wines out with the same burning ambition that drives us to find anything else desirable in this life, is a mistake. 

It's not about having THIS ONE.
It's about having YOUR ONE. 

(Also, please note, by "one," I mean "as many as you can find.")

Anywayyyyyy. I came home from Italy, and had to have this exact wine for this exact moment. It took a long time for it to open up-- approximately two & a half hours in a decanter in the refrigerator. But like any good love, it was well worth the wait. 

This Magic Moment

The Drifters

The Ribelà Garbagorba rosato doesn't taste like it did last week, but they never do. I don't know if the wine is lighter and more carefree in Italy, or if I'm lighter and more carefree in Italy, but it doesn't matter. Leaving Italy changes you; whether you're a wine or a woman, the distance weighs upon you. But even with barbells in each side of your ribcage, this wine does nothing but make your heart want to sing. It doesn't matter what it tasted like last week because today, it is still lovely.

This wine is so fun and spontaneous. It is a crush pushing you into the pool at dusk on a balmy summer night. All the plants have just been watered, and while you're immediately plunged into refreshing minerality, the breeze is hot and heavy with fresh cut fruit and warm flowers cooling in the shade of twilight. And while it seems like simple flirting, you know it's something you will remember until the end of time.

Ribelà is one of my favorite wineries, not just for its Roman oasis of a vineyard, but because their wines are so modern while still honoring the history of the region. I have a lot to say on this subject, which is another piece for another publication after I have more time to properly contemplate it all, which up until this moment has felt overwhelming. This trip to Italy changed me in ways that only my future work will be able to adequately demonstrate, and I'd be lying if I didn't say it has been keeping me up at night. Often with clarity comes anxiety, the "I KNOW WHAT I HAVE TO DO!" meeting the "FUCK. HOW DO I DO THAT? CAN I DO THAT?"

But with Garbagorba by my side, tackling the incredible topic of the evolution of Italian natural wines doesn't feel so enormous. It feels, and tastes, very exciting. 

Tasting Notes: Looks like gauze made from the brightest tropical coral. Smells like bing cherry morning dew dripping off cold gardenias. Tastes like you're devouring a watermelon filled with pomegranate juice trimmed with limestone, lemon rinds, and almond shavings. Refreshingly modern with a depth of terroir and tradition. Mio cuore canta (one of three Italian phrases I have DOWN). 

Ross Test: This is my first time Ross Testing from a decanter. And it was good, although, if you're going through the trouble to decant your wine you should probably put it in a glass. Also, you just straight up do not get enough wine when you're drinking out of a decanter without risking spilling the whole thing all over your face and wasting all this wine you are madly in love with.

Minimus "I Have Brett" Rosé

Minimus "I Have Brett" Rosé
Varietal: Pinot Gris
Region: Willamette Valley, Oregon
Year: 2016
Price: $30
Retailer: Lou Wine Shop

This is my third attempt at writing this review. Which in and of itself, is a testament to the wine. It has perplexed, and hypnotized, me for two days. Just this afternoon, I literally cried a little over it. Because I could not find the right words, and because I was out of the wine. That sounds like a shallow and well-branded joke, but it isn't. I legit had tears. I then went back to Lou's and got another bottle. 

And now, I am ready to tell you about the Minimus "I Have Brett" Rosé.

It's a Nancy Sinatra and Lee Hazlewood song.

Some Velvet Morning

Nancy Sinatra & Lee Hazlewood

If you have ever listened to Nancy Sinatra & Lee Hazelwood's LP Nancy & Lee, you know that it is an album of harmonious chasms. You have Nancy's flowery voice floating and Lee's deep, spicy baritone coming in hot. There's breezy tambourines and celestial violins mixed with deep bass lines and ominous drum beats. We won't get into the random trumpets and country crooning, but it's all there. A first spin leaves a listener confused, but a third listen has them obsessed. Even if they can't explain exactly how the extreme breaks in "Some Velvet Morning" went from jarring to joyful. It just is. 

The Minimus "I Have Brett" Rosé reminds me of that album because it has so many conflicting notes that unexpectedly become an addictive melody. It's very dry and savory and reminiscent of a Tavel rosé, but has a tight, throbbing acidity, a punch of red fruit, and a floral halo. And then it has this incredible tannic structure and long finish. It's both light & bright, and warm & spicy, and that brett they make a point to call out is so well integrated into its complex profile that I doubt most people could pick a note of "barnyard" out of the glass while being so beguiled by its spiced cornucopia of cranberry and white flowers. 

I attribute its multiverse of flavors and sensations to Minimus winemaker Chad Stock's proprietary "Reverse Saignée" method. 

Alright so first things first, Saignée is a method of making rosé where a producer is making a straight-up red wine, and then bleeds off some of the juice early in fermentation. (This sort of thing is in my book BTW and you should pre-order it OKAY SORRY SORRY JUST TRYING TO MAKE A LIVING HERE.) Chad does not do this. Instead:

'Reverse Saignée' is what my team and I call the method where by we add additional juice to a fermentation on skins as opposed to the typical Saignée, where juice is removed from the fermentation. We fill a tank full of whole cluster Pinot Gris grapes, we then take a portion of the same fruit and whole bunch press it to collect white juice.  We then pump the white juice into the tank full of whole clusters. The fermentation ensues for about three weeks to dryness.  We wet the cap three times daily but otherwise never punch down, so the clusters remain whole and ferment carbonic with the white juice surrounding them.

And subsequently, Minimus has created a highly energetic yet extremely structured wine that is easy to ponder upon, and lose yourself in. And I'm sitting here still dazed by it.

This is not a wine you just drink.

This is a cerebral tongue fuck,
an endlessly stimulating yet ultimately unsolvable rosé Rubix Cube.

Tasting Notes: The color is close to Pantone's "Tangerine Tango," but with a touch more red, vibrant and glowing and expanding like a molten sun. Texturally it starts very smooth, like a well-polished gem, but softens in the glass. Smells like salted hibiscus and those freeze-dried full-sized raspberries from Whole Foods 365. Tastes like cranberry concentrate, red current, white lilies, and warm, spiced orange peels. And yes, that bit of brett, and all the mysteries left to ponder by this "Reverse Saignée".

Ross Test: Doable, but put it in a glass for me. I mean, for you, but do it for me. 

Solminer Linus Rosé

Solminer Linus Rosé
Varietal: Syrah
Region: Santa Ynez, California
Year: 2015
Price: $24
Retailer: Direct from winery (online shopping rules)

I wrote this whole thing explaining that despite spending most of my life being referred to as "little bro" and saying everything is "fucking tight", I'm a sophisticated lady who listens to Music For A Sophisticated Lady. And then Neil, who gave me the fucking record, walked in and was like, "You are definitely not a sophisticated lady." 

And I mean, I'm not.
Not in the classical sense.
Or really any sense.

But I am modern and knowledgable, which are both synonyms of "sophisticated", so if the only thing keeping me from being "sophisticated" is that I primarily wear basketball shorts and no make up while chugging wine and cussing too much, then I am fine not being sophisticated or a lady. But it did ruin the lede of this piece. Although that was a waste of my time, it actually worked out because I didn't realize that this rosé was named after the winemakers' son, and it's probably for the best I didn't go comparing it to any sophisticated or unsophisticated ladies. 

BUT THE BLOG MUST GO ON. With or without a cohesive through-line. 

The Solminer rosé is a gorgeous deep coral; a color I love to wear but something I would normally see in a bottle of wine and actively avoid due to the sweetness such a color usually indicates. But the Linus is tart and dry with electric strawberry, and reminds me of this Glass Animals song. It's upbeat with an accelerated acidity that bursts through the palate and long into the finish. With its sharp, sour red fruits, it is very refreshing, and begs to be gulped. It drinks young, but you can taste how much technique and talent went into it. It's one of those bottles that you hate to drink so quickly because you know it's special, but you just can't help it. 

This is rosé at its best. As plush as Provence, and as crisp as California.

Tasting Notes: Neon strawberry and orange zest with like, a kazoo bursting with acidity, and mouthfeel like your favorite well-fitted viscose t-shirt. 

Ross Test: I drank a fourth of the bottle. So. YES.

Interviewed: THE NOT-SO-BASIC GUIDE TO ROSÉ

The Coveteur's Not-So-Basic Guide To Rosé

As someone who covets most fashion, I was so honored to be interviewed by one of my favorite fashion sites, The Coveteur, on my tips to buying the best rosé this season. 

Lise & Bertrand Jousset "Exile" Rosé Pétillant

Lise & Bertrand Jousset Rosé Pétillant
Varietal: Gamay
Region: Loire, France
Year: 2013
Price: ~$20

I'm off my game today. I can't tell you how many photos of my dumb fucking face I tried to take with this wine. I want to say, "Don't you hate that?!" as if that is at all relatable, like everyone is jerry-rigging their cameras to take pictures with bottles of wine because they're 90% sure their tri-pod is in the back of their fiancé's car. Instead, you get this still-life of my beauty products because that's what I did! I drank this rosé while trying my new rose face mask from Fresh, recommended by Best Coast beauty queen Beth, who is my skincare sage. She knows everything about face masks, and one thing people don't know about me is that I LOVE FACE MASKS. EVERYTHING WITH SKIN CARE. EVERYTHING BATH AND BODY BUT NOT BATH & BODY WORKS. OK FINE. I EVEN WOULD PROBABLY STILL LOVE SOME BATH & BODY WORKS.

Most people think I spend all my money on clothes, but the truth is, I spend most of my money on wine and skincare. Seriously. I may have a problem. When Ben and I decided to get a joint bank account, I kept my personal one because of "savings", but really it's because "skincare". Have you ever tried to explain La Mer to a dude? It's impossible. Just try. I can't have him seeing how much I spend on this shit, he'd legit be so disappointed (I was going to say break my leg but he's not aggressive like that, and his disappointed face is much worse than any physical harm he could inflict). 

BUT IT'S MY FACE!
I CAN'T JUST GET A NEW ONE LIKE AN H&M BUTTON-UP!
I HAVE TO TAKE CARE OF THIS ONE!

I haven't drank in three days so I was excited to pop this and celebrate my return! And also my new face mask. I mean, what could possibly pair better with a pet-nat rosé than a face mask featuring little particles of roses that made me look like I had chicken pox in all the photos? NOTHING!

Holy shit, I don't think I've ever talked about Pétillant Naturel, which is a sin because it's a personal favorite. Pétillant Naturel, otherwise known by its pet name Pet-Nat, is a lightly sparkling wine that is naturally carbonated when winemakers cut off fermentation before all the sugar is consumed by yeast. They throw a cap on it, and as the yeast continues to eat the sugar, it produces extra carbon dioxide and voila. Mild carbonation. Most Pet-Nats are unfiltered, funky and fucking awesome. Thanks for your attendance at the MAR Wine Academy, now back to this rosé.

The Exile tastes like the Fresh rose mask and Blondie's "Heart of Glass". Now hear me out. I know that sounds crazy but you know I've got this. Much like the rose mask, the Exile is cheek sucking and smells like florals on the wind. And like Blondie's "Heart of Glass", it's a harmonious party in a glass. Of my heart. This wine is in my heart for sure. I mean, combine "Loire", "Gamay" and "Pet-Nat" in any order and I will need a new pair of panties. 

(My love of alliteration trumps my hatred of "panties".)

This is dancing wine! Shoulder shimmin', tit shakin', hip swayin', love makin' wine. I'd chalk it up to the Blondie, but I listen to Blondie while drinking a lot of shit and I don't feel this good. I'm not saying I'll do this, or that you should, but this tastes like I should be doing a lot of cocaine and ruling a dance floor somewhere. Like, I want to drink a bottle of this and get into a dance battle. A sexy dance battle. And I'd be running my hands through my very 70's middle-parted hair and pelvic thrusting my adversary into submission. After I shamed their horrible moves, we'd pop a hundred more bottles of this. And I'd let the loser come and hang because I'm nice, but they'd know forever that I was the queen of shoulder shimmin' and pet-nats. 

And yet, it is also very good for wearing a full sweatsuit and rubbing shit on your face while wearing Ugg slippers you swore you'd never own, but now you love oh so much. And dreaming of being a dancing queen. But not listening to ABBA because, c'mon guys. 

My neighbors have to be concerned over the amount of time I've replayed "Heart of Glass" at this point. 

Tasting Notes: On the nose, it's like a dozen roses lost at sea; floral but salty. On the palate, lots of raspberry and strawberry, with clenching minerality and acidity. A perfect wine for day-drinking, or getting a party started. 

Ross Test: Bubbles are always hard :(

Contadi Castaldi Brut Rosé

Contadi Castaldi Brut Rosé
Varietals: 65% Chardonnay, 35% Pinot Nero
Region: Franciacorta, Italy
Price: ~$25

Rosé fatigue is a real thing, a condition onset by the suffocating virality of rosé this season. I started actively avoiding them, going as far as vowing not to review another for the rest of the summer and cussing out a bartender for mockingly assuming that because I was a woman at a wine bar I was obviously ordering rosé.

But then, by the grace of god, the kind people of the region of Franciacorta decided to bless me with a few presents, one of which being the Contadi Castaldi Brut Rosé. It could have been any other brut rosé and I would have said, "Whaaateverrr" but IT'S A FRANCIACORTA, AND NOT ONLY A FRANCIACORTA, BUT MY FAVORITE!

I had the Contadi Castaldi Brut Rosé in Rome last summer. It was so fucking hot, and the Castaldi was so fucking refreshing, served in a beautiful little tulip'd glass that is the official vessel of Franciacorta. I looked for it in the states but never found it, and was sure that I wouldn't see my long lost summer crush again until I returned to my beloved Italia. 

And now here I am, once again enjoying its pleasures on an excruciatingly hot summer day, sadly not on the patio of a mozzarella bar.

You don't see Franciacortas that often in America, and that sucks because they're one of my favorites. Made using metodo classico-- otherwise known as méthode traditionelle when used for Champagne-- this Italian sparkler has an elegant, clean crispness that I just die for. Unlike Champagne with its nutty roundness, or Prosecco with its creamy melon, Franciacortas are a bit pinching and salty while maintaining graceful structure. It's the perfect middle sister between Champagne and Cava. 

The Castaldi reminds me of a tangled top-knot sitting upon the crown, effortlessly sophisticated. It's approachable and carefree, and yet, so god damn poised. It's the bowl of potato chips you're DYING FOR at the cocktail party, and it's Audrey Hepburn in Funny Face. It's quite perfect, if you love juxtaposing fanciful fun with time tested tradition. 

I want to drink this all night and pretend I am sweltering in Rome with only this brut rosé and my loved ones to find refuge in. I've already waxed extremely poetic about Italy this month, so I don't want to bore you, but I could float away on its bubbles into the Adriatic Sea for now until eternity.

Tasting Notes: Lay's Potato Chips dipped in carbonated rose gold. 

Ross Test: As with most sparkling wines, it's a painful burst of joy. 

Alloy Wine Works' Grenache Rosé

UPDATE: NOW AVAILABLE TO PURCHASE HERE! 

These are the only things I know about Allloy Wine Works' grenache rosé:

1. It showed up this morning in a box from Field Recordings
2. It is handpicked
3. It is cellared & packaged by Field Recordings
WHO CARES
5. IT'S DELICIOUS

I haven't had a chance to cover Field Recordings on the blog because I tend to drink all the wine with my fiancé before I can sit down and write about it, but Field Recordings is one of my favorite California wines. It's hard for me to have a dinner without a cab franc or chenin blanc of theirs. They also make Fiction canned wine, which is the first canned red wine I've ever fully endorsed.  Basically, I trust winemaker Andrew Jones' with my gut and soul.

When I first opened it, I wasn't quite sure, but after getting it to optimal temperature, I am extremely happy with this wine. 

Do you remember the first Tennis album? Cape Dory? That's what this wine tastes like. Like pink dreamy clouds languidly drifting upon a cornflower blue horizon, white sails lightly billowing in the breeze while sandy feet dance drunkenly off-beat on a wet deck. It's so fun, and gritty. Like you're gross. You're a disgusting human covered in sweat, humidity and sunscreen. And it's the best. The boat may never leave the dock but it doesn't matter, because your dirty little feet are moving and the only thing you can think about is looking into your dance partner's eyes for all of eternity. Does he even know how to sail? WHO CARES. I HOPE HE DOESN'T AND IT'S AN ADVENTURE FOREVER!

It's so youthfully romantic that you don't even realize you've had sand in your bikini bottoms for the last eight hours. Then you drunkenly make your way to the head and discover a load in your pants and you laugh even more. And you spend all night laughing about the load in your pants over tall-boys OF WINE. 

That is what this tastes like. It tastes like the springtime-of-my-life's ideals colliding with my adult-ass palate. It throws caution to the wind, but also takes great care of its flavors. 

SOME REALNESS: They have the best tasting notes on the can I'VE EVER SEEN. AND THE ONLY ONE I'VE EVER BEEN LIKE, "DAMN! YEAH! YOU'RE RIGHT! THIS IS STRAWBERRY AND GRAPEFRUIT AND GUAVA AND MINT AND SOUR PATCH KIDS AND ROSE PETALS! DAMN! ALLOY GETS ITSELF/ME!" 

I would just add "salt water sentimentality" and "MARISSA A. ROSS' SAP", but other than that, perfection.

Bridge Lane Rosé

Bridge Lane Rosé
Price: $40
Region: Long Island
Retailer: Lieb Cellars

Boxed wine is a pretty polarizing thing. People generally have an opinion about it. My opinion has always been a very neutral "It's fine." I see the pros, but I mostly taste the cons. 

I'm happy to have discovered Bridge Lane, because now I can say, "It's awesome!"

Bridge Lane is not something I would normally drink. It's boxed and it's from Long Island. But the packaging is great, and you get 4 bottles worth of wine for $40. But most importantly, their grapes are sustainably farmed and handpicked! AND STAINLESS STEEL FERMENTED! HOW OFTEN DO YOU HEAR THAT WHEN IT COMES TO BOXED WINE? UH NEVER. MOSTLY IT'S SOME RANDO FROM YOUR DORM FLOOR EIGHT YEARS AGO ON FACEBOOK RANTING ABOUT SOME BOXED SHIT SHE GOT ON SALE AT TARGET AND HOW IT'S MOMMY'S JUICE TIME. Ick. 

But that is not the case with Bridge Lane. Yes, some rando may be threatening to kill her children if she doesn't start sucking some down, but at least it is a thoughtful wine. The second label to winery Lieb Cellars, these wines are handcrafted, bright, youthful and fruit-forward. This is actually my second box of Bridge Lane (I've also had the Red Blend) and I have to say, I'm very impressed. It's not easy to maintain a fresh wine in a box, in a bag, but god damn it, they did it! 

To me, this is a great answer to the summer get-together where you're like, "Fuuuck, I don't want to buy five hundred bottles of wine but I also don't want to buy four boxes of Franzia." Well, now you don't have to do either. You can buy a couple boxes of Bridge Lane and call it a party. 

Even if that party is just yourself on a Monday afternoon.

Tasting Notes: Classically rosé. Bright cherries on both the nose and the palate. Easy drinking and smooth with a friendly finish. It sticks around, but you're totally cool with it. Perfect for a party on your patio or porch. Great alone, but I believe would make for some killer spritzers as well. 

Ross Test: Sticky but satisfying 

Un Saumon Dans la Loire 'La Boutanche' Rosé

Un Saumon Dans la Loire 'La Boutanche' Rosé
Price: $16
Region: Loire
Retailer: DomaineLA

I didn't mean to review another rosé. But when the homie Corey Cartwright of Selection Massale pulled out a bottle of 'La Boutanche' rosé at lunch, there was no way I wasn't reviewing it. I'm a huge fan of the Un Saumon Dans la Loire 'La Boutanche' series. They are all well crafted, easy drinkers at reasonable prices. I couldn't not talk about this wine. 

Especially considering my best bro Ryan Ellis came through with IF YOU'RE READING THIS IT'S TOO LATE ON FUCKING VINYL. ILLEGAL GERMAN VINYL. BLACK MARKET CLEAR VINYL. THIS IS DRUGS TO ME. LIKE I FREAKED OUT WILDER THAN IF HE HAD JUST STRAIGHT UP RUBBED MILEY CYRUS' MOLLY ON MY GUMS.

I didn't mean to be listening to Drake and drinking rosé again, but, that's just the way shit happened to go.  ¯\_(ツ)_/¯

The 'La Boutanche' rosé is gamay based, so you know I'm tripping on this shit. Tastes like a cherry Starburst and has me feeling like I'm the one again. It's the color of the red lights in any number of Brooklyn bars I've been wasted in and never knew the names of. 

Also cranberry juice, but that is not very evocative.

Like, I don't care about a wine that looks like fucking cranberry juice. I care about wines that remind me of the six years I've been vacationally drinking in the bowels of Williamsburg, having the time of my twenties, throwing shows at now defunct bars (RIP Bruar Falls), watching my homies' bands blow up, and homies' bands dissipate, eating at Five Leaves every time I come through no matter the company, throwing rap and Nirvana on a jukebox in the same breath and talking about Blink 182 until 6AM.

THAT IS THE SHIT WINE SHOULD MAKE YOU FEEL.
CRANBERRY JUICE DOES NOT REMIND YOU OF YOUR WOES.

This wine is so good because it is so fucking youthful. It's bright and vibrant and makes me want to travel and party and pass out on your floor. I want to pop it like a pack of Skittles I finish in 36 seconds, even though I promised myself it would last me the whole flight. I don't have will power with anything pleasurable because I'm a hedonist with a guilty conscience. Like this bottle should last me more than an hour, but it can't because it feels too good to drink it all and listen to Drake and daydream about all the things I did and haven't done yet.

I don't feel like I'm getting old, but I kinda am.
But also: who the fuck cares?
I'll always have my memories, my rosé, and my illegal Drake vinyl. 

6PM In New York

Drake

Some nights I wish I could go back in life.
Not to change shit, just to feel a couple things twice.

Tasting Notes: I like this more after it has time to open, and is not super cold. Much better at a chilly room temp. Cherry and herbal on the nose, tart cherry candy on the palate. In love with the mouthfeel with this one. Lingering but light, feels like a Helmut Lang tee for my tongue. Refreshing and delightful, if you like cherry Sour Punch Straws, which I happen TO FUCKING LOOOOVVVVEE.

Ross Test: Better in a glass but doable. 

Yes Way Rosé x Club W's "Summer Water"

Yes Way Rosé x Club W's "Summer Water"
Price: $18
Region: Napa
Retailer: Club W

Back in March, I was in NYC to host a wine tasting. It was still cold, like snowing (okay, it was a "flurry", which apparently means something to people who live in snow cause for me, it was fucking snowing and "flurry" is not a real word if it's missing a "Mc"), but all of my friends who lived there kept excitedly going on and on about how ROSE SEASON WAS COMING.

"Rosé season?" I pondered, looking out a gray city window, wistfully. "What the fuck is that?"

It took me all of fifteen seconds to realize that much like how I don't understand "suede season" or "winter", "rosé season" is something that people who live outside of California experience because it gets so cold that they cannot drink rosé. On the one hand, I'm like, "Why would you guys ever live like this?! I drink and wear whatever I want all the time!"

On the other hand, I will never experience the sheer joy on two dudes' faces two weeks ago in Brooklyn while I watched them put back their fifth bottle of rosé by the pool at the McCarren Hotel. I don't know if I've ever been as happy as those two dudes in my whole life the way they were acting over this shit. It was FINALLY ROSE SEASON! EVERYTHING WAS GOING TO HAPPEN NOW! IT'S FUCKING ROSE SEASON, MAN!

It is that emotion that my friends at Yes Way Rosé captured with their Napa pinot noir rosé, Summer Water. It's an excitement encapsulated in an easy-going attitude that even us Californians know is specific to summer. It's three months where everything feels possible. There are endless ideas for long weekends and trips to get the hell out of town, daydreams of desert nights, bougainvilleas and beaches. Outdoor movies and the smell of lighted grills, street fairs and the feel of first kisses (even when they are your one hundredth). Everything is beautiful in the summer, a blown-out Polaroid memory waiting to be made. And it all truly seems possible. The sun is out-- what couldn't we do?

Summer USA

Tommy Toussaint

Summer Water is an extremely pleasing bottle, whether you're looking at it or drinking it. The label is a design dream with its poppy minimalism. And it tastes like having the most fun. It tastes like those dudes' faces, which were extremely happy and laughing and one of them looked EXACTLY like Bradley Cooper, so also attractive. They were going to Governor's Ball and were just so fucking stoked on life. "THIS SUMMER IS GOING TO BE THE BEST SUMMER!!!" they said like they'd never said it before. And that is exactly what Summer Water tastes like. 

Now, who wants to find a boardwalk and get into some trouble with me and my Summer Water?

Tasting Notes: The light floral and strawberry bouquet makes for a wonderful transition into its flavor profile: strawberries with hints of pears and peaches, and a striking minerality. Dry and frisky, this wine takes me to a place where there is lots of sunshine, very little clothing and even less responsibilities. 

Ross Test: SOMEONE! QUICK! GET A BOAT! THIS WOULD BE THE BEST ON A BOAT!